Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Opening of the Grove Cinema

The Grove Super
Cinema is no more.Last week, the
bulldozers were busy pulling down the remains of Athy’s last cinema which had
stood on the site on the Dublin road for less than fifty years.In terms of a buildings life, it’s existence
was a short one and as if to prove the point, on Offaly Street, there still
stands the building which housed the first cinema opened in the town in the
1920’s.

The Grove Super
Cinema opened with a great fanfare of publicity and local goodwill in the
Summer of 1957.It was the brain child
of a number of local businessmen who were Directors of the Athy Theatre and
Cinema Company, amongst whom were local Solicitor, Bob Osborne and Building
Contractor, George Nash.For the opening
night of the Cinema, a Souvenir programme was produced which as you might
expect carried a substantial number of local advertisements.The changes in Athy in the intervening forty
seven years are reflected in the those advertisements which carry names no
longer to be found in business in the town.

Jacksons of Athy
had a full page advertisement for farm machinery and General Hardware and
invited the visit to their “new showrooms and workshops” at Leinster
Street.Duthie Larges, Agricultural and
Motor Engineers and Massey-Harris- Ferguson main dealers used the advertisement
to extend congratulations to the Cinema Company describing the Grove Cinema as
“an acquisition to the town of Athy, the centre of the most progressive farming
district in the Country”.

John O’Gorman
& Sons of Mount Offaly and also of Crookstown were open for petrol, tyres,
genuine “Ford” parts and accessories as well as the sale of new cars, trucks
and tractors from 9.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.every day except Sunday.Just
below O’Gorman’s half page advertisement was an advertisement by J. O’Brien of
the Railway Bar described as “Lounge Bar adjacent to the Grove Cinema”.O’Brien was a Wholesale and Family Grocer as
well as a tea, wine and spirit merchant who also had coal, corn and general
feeding stuffs on sale.

The Leinster Arms
Hotel was another advertiser as it had been in almost every local publication
during the previous one hundred and fifty years but this time, forty seven
years ago, it was under the management of Miss B. M. Bullock.Morning coffee, luncheons and teas were
available in the “spacious dining room with seating accommodation for eighty”.

The only local
advertisers in the Grove Cinema’s souvenir programme which are still in
business were Asbestos Cement Limited and Shaws.The local factory proudly announced “this
fine cinema is roofed entirely with asbestos cement, ‘new six inch’ corrugated
sheets.Produced locally in Athy,
Asbestos Cement Products are well established with the modern Irish Builder and
are renowned for their good quality and excellent finish”.Shaws of Athy, Suppliers of carpets to the
new Cinema reminded the reader that “it pays to shop at Shaws” describing
itself as “the house for value”.

The remaining
local advertiser was the building contractor, George Nash from Athy who was the
main contractor for the new Cinema.The
nature of change in the business make up of the town over the last couple of
decades is reflected in the loss of such substantial businesses as Jacksons,
Duthie Larges, O’Gormans and Nashs and the change in ownership of the Railway
Bar (now McEvoy’s) and the Leinster Arms Hotel (now Gerry Griffin).

The Grove Cinema
when it opened in 1957 was the second Cinema in Athy.The Cinema in Offaly Street, known to my
generation as “Bobs” was then still in operation although it closed within a
short time of the Grove opening.It
could not hope to compete in terms of comfort or even quality of sound and
vision with the new arrival.This is how
the Grove Cinema was described in the souvenir programme of 1957.

“The new Cinema is built on the ground known
as the Grove from which it gets its name.It incorporates all the very latest in structural and technical
advancements in Cinema design.

All local labour
and material were used as far as possible in the construction.The Cinema is approached through a very
spacious entrance foyer off which is the Manager’s Office, Sweet Shop and
Ticket Office serving both the balcony, back stalls and front stalls
patrons.The Entrance Hall itself is
carried in the most up to date contemporary colour scheme with a centre
chandelier, which won first prize in design in London.The Balcony is approached by a wide spacious
staircase.The beautiful wrought iron
balustrade was made locally.

The Auditorium to
the house is of the new wide shape suitable for modern cinemascope screen, so
that patrons from all parts of the house obtain a clear uninterrupted view of
the picture.The Cinema accommodates
approximately 1,000 patrons, one hundred in the front stalls, six hundred in the
back stalls and three hundred in the Balcony.The seats in both the Balcony and Stalls are the very latest in design
and luxury.The carpets are a special
weave made exclusively for Cinemas.The
large stage is fully equipped for stage shows and has all the necessary
Dressing Rooms and other essential appurtenances.

The Projection
Room is equipped with the very latest Projection equipment, including the most
up to date safety devices. The screen frame is the very latest in design,
capable of being automatically changed in size by push button control, so that
the size of the picture can be changed from the normal picture to wide screen
in full Cinemascope. The Cinema is set back from the main road with a large Car
Park.The original grove of trees is
being retained as a private garden for the use of the patrons.The whole scheme will add considerably to the
amenities of the town, and of which the people of Athy may be justly proud.

The Architect of
the scheme was W.M. O’Dwyer, M.R.I.A.I., 21, Clare Street, Dublin, who
incidentally was responsible for the design of the luxurious Ambassador Cinema
in Dublin. The Main Contractor was Mr. George Nash who carried out the whole
job from start to finish in the finest possible manner”.

With the
demolition of the Grove Cinema, the town of Athy which has a population of over
six thousand inhabitants is now without a Cinema.However, it has twenty four or so Public
houses and seven places of worship.If
nothing else, the spirits are well catered for!